Railway car door fixture



July 24, 1934. e. G. GlLPlN RAILWAY CAR DOOR FIXTURE Filed March 27, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 11272611260) Garth (ZGflpin/ I ,1 4 ii of July 24, 1934. G. e. GILPIN RAILWAY CAR DOOR FIXTURE Filed March 27, 1930 4 SheetsSheet 2 l/lllll/i/ July 24, 1934. G, GILPIN 1,967,819

RAILWAY CAR DOOR FIXTURE Filed March 27, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 6

. Invenior:

Gafflz G1] in fliforne y July 24, 1934. GILPIN 1,967,819

RAILWAY CAR DOOR FIXTURE Filed March 27, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 24, 1934 eurreo STATES RAILWAY CAR DOOR FIXTURE Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, Ill., assignor to Bail way Metal Products Company, Chicago, Ill.,

corporation of Delaware Application March 27, 1930, Serial No. 439,398

10 Claims. (01. 16-96) Side doors of railway freight cars are arranged to slide horizontally to open or close the door opening and anti-friction rollers are provided between the door and the supporting element to reduce the effort required to move the door. The inertia of such a'door caused by the sudden stopping or starting of the car bangs or slams it against the front .or back stop causing damage to the car and the door and resulting in a leaky car; Even if the door is locked such inertia causes considerable strain upon the locking mechanism. An object of my invention is to transfer the weight of the door from the antifriction rollers to a rigid part of the door and thence directly to the truckso that-the tendency of the door to move longitudinally of the track will be resisted by the friction between such'rigid part of the door and the track. thereby retaining the door in a predetermined position. It is desirable to retain the door in a closed position or in full open position; however, my arrangement can be Varied to retain the door in any position therebetween. The increased weight of the doors caused by the metallic reinforcements used thereon and the use of all steel doors has increased the necessity for such an arrangement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction wherein the inertia of the door, due to the movement of the car, is transferred from the "looking or holding mechanism to a track positioned below the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide means or mechanisms for transferring the weight of the door from the fixed part on the car body to the anti-friction rollers or vice versaby moving the door one way or the other longitudinally of the track.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a typical railway car door provided with my improveddoor fixtures.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the door and associated parts with the roller in engagement with the tread of the track.

Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2 and shows the roller out of engagement with the tread of the track.

Fig. t shows a modified construction of the bracket.

Fig. 5 shows a portion of the track of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section on line '77 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 shows a typical railway car door provided with my improved door fixtures of a modified construction wherein the central part of the track is depressed at predetermined places.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical section of the door and associated parts of the construction of Fig. 8 with the roller in engagement with the trea of the track.

Fig. 10 is similar to Fig. 9 and shows the roller out of engagement with the tread of the track.

Fig. 11 shows a portion of the trackof Figs. 8,9

and 10. i

Fig. 12 is a sectionon line 12'12 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a section on line 1313 of Fig. 11.

The drawings show a typical railway car side door and the associated parts of the car wherein the door 2 is provided with rollers which run along the track which is mounted upon the car below the door and is supported upon the side sill 50f the car by bracketsfi. The upper part'of the door is retained adjacent the car and is provided with some waterproofing means.

The track is provided with interrupted portions 25 so positioned that the rollers on the door are opposite these interrupted portions when the door is in a predetermined position or positions so that the track (or at least the tread thereof) is relieved of the weight upon the roller and the weight of the door is transferred to the roller brackets '51, each :bracket being provided with oppositely projecting flanges 52 and 53 which straddle the track and are preferably provided with inclined surfaces '5657 so that as the weight of the door is shifted from the roller to the bracket '5lthe inclined surfaces centralize the door relative to the track. This bracket is preferably provided with adepending flange to resist the movement of the door away from the car and may also be provided'with a depending flange 61 to restrict the movement of the door toward the car. A Fig. 4 shows a modified bracket having depending flanges 58-59 to'retain the roller in proper operative relation to the track and substantially horizontal portions which engage the track to support the weight of thedoor when the "bracket is moved over :an interrupted portion.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the track 55 wherein the oppositely projecting flanges 65-,66 of the T sections are flared upwardly (67) at predetermined positions to raise the roller from the tread or central part of the track.

Figs. 8 to 13 inclusive show a modified track wherein the tread or central part '70 of the T section is depressed at predetermined places so that as the roller moves over the depressed portion the door is not raised but the tread drops away from the roller. In other words, my arrangement may be designed so as to raise the roller away from the tread or it may be designed so as to drop the tread away from the roller. Either of the constructions come within the scope of my invention.

The arrangement may be designed to relieve the rollers of the weight of the door at any predetermined position or positions. I prefer, however, to have the rollers relieved of the weight of the door when the door is in closed position or in full open position.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

The broad features of providing the tread of the track with interrupted portions to relieve the door rollers of the weight of the door is disclosed and claimed in my application, Serial No. 588,684, filed January 25,1932, (a division of this application) which matured into Patent No. 1,902,772 on March 21, 1933.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination of a track mounted upon the car and a door provided with rollers engageable with the track, and also provided with parts having diverging surfaces straddling the track, certain portions of the track being deformed so as to shift the weight of the door from the rollers to the diverging surfaces of the said parts as the rollers are moved over the deformed portions whereby the door is centralized relative to the track.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a track mounted upon the car having a tread and outer margins and a door provided with rollers engageable with the track, certain portions of the track having the outer margins raised above the tread so as 'to shift the weight of the door from the rollers and the tread to the said outer margins of the track as the rollers are moved over the certain portion. 3. In a railway car, a track having a tread arranged to engage rollers supporting a door, and means on the door positioned over the track, but out of engagement therewith, said means having oppositely projecting flanges which straddle the track to retain the rollers in engagement with the track, said tread having interrupted portions of suflicient depth to allow the door to move downwardly when the rollers are moved to a position over said interrupted portions of the tread until said means engages said track and supports the weight of the door independently of the rollers. V

4. In a railway car, a track having a tread arranged to engage rollers supporting a door, and means on the door positioned over the track, but out of engagement therewith, said means having oppositely projecting flanges which straddle the track to retain the rollers in engagement with the track, each of said flanges being provided. with an inclined surface to centralize the door relative to the track, said tread having interrupted portions of sufficient depth to allow the door to move downwardly when the rollers are moved to a position over said interrupted portions of the tread until said means engages said track and supports the weight of the door independently of the rollers.

5. In a railway car, a track having a tread. arranged to engage rollers supporting a door, and means on the door positioned over the track, but out of engagement therewith, said means having oppositely projecting flanges which straddle the track to retain the rollers in engagement with the track, certain spaced apart portions of the track having the outer margins raised above the tread so as to shift the weight of the door from the rollers to said flanges when the rollers are moved over the certain portions.

6. In a railway car, a track having a tread arranged to engage rollers supporting a door, and means on the door positioned over the track, but out of engagement therewith, said means having oppositely projecting flanges which straddle the track to retain the rollers in engagement with the track, certain spaced apart portions of the track having the outer margins in a different horizontal plane than the tread so as to shift the weight of the door from the rollers to said flanges when the rollers are moved over the certain portions.

7. A track for use with a horizontally movable door of a railway car having a central tread and outer marginal parts normally in the plane of said tread, certain spaced apart portions of the track having the outer marginal parts raised above the tread.

8. A track for use with a horizontally movable door of a railway car having a central tread and outer marginal parts normally in the plane of said tread, certain spaced apart portions of the track having the outer marginal parts in a different substantially horizontal plane from the tread.

9. A track for use with a horizontally movable door of a railway car of T section having a horizontal arm and a depending stem, said arm having a central tread and outer marginal parts normally in the plane of said tread, certain spaced apart portions of the track having the outer marginal parts in a different substantially horizontal plane from the tread.

'10. In a railway car, a track having a tread arranged to engage rollers supporting the door, and means on the door positioned over the track but out of engagement therewith, said means having oppositely projecting flanges which straddle the track to retain the rollers in engagement with the track, a portion of the track having the outer margins in a different horizontal plane than the tread so as to shift the weight of the door from one of the rollers when the last mentioned roller is moved over said portion.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

